States could leave millions of low-income people uninsured in a new Medicaid ‘doughnut hole’, Associated Press, July 17, 2012, Washington Post: “For Gov. Rick Perry, saying ‘no’ to the federal health care law could also mean turning away up to 1.3 million Texans, nearly half the uninsured people who could be newly eligible for coverage in his state. Gov. Chris Christie not only would be saying ‘no’ to President Barack Obama, but to as many as 245,000 uninsured New Jersey residents as well. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling gave governors new flexibility to reject what some Republicans deride as ‘Obamacare.’ But there’s a downside, too. States that reject the law’s Medicaid expansion risk leaving behind many of their low-income uninsured residents in a coverage gap already being called the new ‘doughnut hole’ – a reference to a Medicare gap faced by seniors…”
Day: July 17, 2012
Safety Net Hospitals and Medicare Changes
Poorer hospitals may suffer from Medicare changes, By Genevra Pittman, July 16, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Under upcoming changes in Medicare and Medicaid payment policies, hospitals largely treating the poor and uninsured may be hit extra hard if patients continue to rate their experiences there lower than at other hospitals, according to a new study. So-called safety-net hospitals take in a lot of patients on government insurance – which doesn’t pay as much for services as private insurance – or without any insurance at all, leaving them often under financial stress and struggling to stay open, researchers said. Under the Affordable Care Act, a small proportion of Medicare and Medicaid funding going to hospitals will be determined by performance measures, including how patients rate their experiences there. That’s not a bad idea in general, said Dr. Ashish Jha . . .”